Reliving the pain of war: military deployment and PTSD

Reliving the pain of war: military deployment and PTSD
The Coverstation
16 January 2013
AUTHOR
David Forbes
Director, Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
Professor of Psychiatry at University of Melbourne

Importantly, current research informs us that the risk for mental health problems does not rise with increased deployments per se. Rather, the risk of PTSD is determined by the frequency and severity of the potentially traumatic events to which serving members may be exposed on these deployments.

Serving on operational deployments in conflict zones carries not only the obvious physical threats, it also poses significant mental health risks. While depression and anxiety disorders are common among returned service personnel, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is perhaps the most commonly considered mental disorder in this group.

Approximately 8% of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members report current PTSD, though the rates of PTSD following specific deployments have not yet been published.

A parliamentary committee is currently investigating this issue as part of its inquiry into the care of ADF personnel injured on operations. The release date of the final report hasn’t been confirmed, but so far submissions and public hearings have raised concerns about the risks of PTSD, disclosure of mental health problems and when it’s safe to redeploy soldiers who have experienced mental ill health.
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